After the official portion of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump concluded, we moved on to the participatory segment, where we all got to weigh in.
Did Harris do her Bay Area hometown proud (even if she’ll never publicly mention it by name)? Did Trump’s performance satisfy his various Silicon Valley patrons? We invited Standard readers to enter our virtual spin room by answering the 100% unscientific poll questions below. Here are the results:
Question 1: While she’s a force to be feared in a courtroom or a committee hearing, Harris hasn’t always been at her most coherent when she’s the one taking questions, whether at a press conference or on a debate stage.
Question 2: Biden’s performance at the first debate, where he seemed so old he might have forgotten how to blink or breathe, changed the course of the race.
Question 3: Moderators of past debates, particularly those involving Trump, have been criticized for letting the former president lie unchecked, but on Tuesday ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-checked the candidates live.
Question 4: Ever the prosecutor, Harris was on offense from the get-go, striding onto Trump’s turf and surprising him with an alpha-dog handshake. It was the first of many moments that elicited cheers from her social media admirers, with others including making him squirm on Roe v. Wade, indicting him as an out-of-control felon, and painting him as Vladimir Putin’s patsy.
Question 5: Trump’s advisers were reportedly concerned about the former president’s ability — or lack thereof — to restrain himself.
Do you have thoughts on the debate that don’t fit neatly into a multiple-choice format? Did Harris’ trademark laugh register as joyful or unhinged? What’s your recipe for dog? Are you, like Taylor Swift, ready to fly your coconut flag? Now’s your chance to sound off.